Mako Dreams
by Kreskin
Summary: This story contains spoilers to the anime Cowboy Bebop. This story also contains horns and is not appropriate for people for whom horns are inappropriate.
1. Holy

_"Cloud..."_

"Aeris."

He found himself in a strange place, a small platform surrounded by a cool and crystalline world. Aeris kneeled there in prayer. He looked around slowly.

His head felt light.

Aeris turned her head to him, looking up with wide and troubled eyes of turquoise, nearly crying.

_"Cloud..."_

He didn't know what to say, to do. He reached his hand for her. She spoke again.

_"Holy..."_

---

He shot up from the bed, sitting and panting for air. The air was cold, his body was hot. He reached over, jostling Tifa's shoulder.

"Tifa," he spoke in concern. "Aeris."

Not waiting for a reply, he came to sit on the bed's edge, dragging on his pants, his shirt. He walked to the door, the noise of it banging shut nullifying the silence momentarily.

---

"You came," Aeris said, leaning her head forward.

The sun was out. The clouds were out as well. The sky was a vivid blue.

"Aeris," he spoke.

The two could hear each other over the bustling populace.

"Cloud," she said, bowing her head in troubled sincerity.

A protrusion formed between her eyes. Long, curved, pointed.

"...Aeris?" he asked, wary, afraid.

"Cloud..."

People passed them by. The world passed them by.

"Holy."

---

"Cloud!" Barret yelled. "What the hell?"

Cloud sat in front of a mirror, fixing his hair. Makeup. Accessories. Glamour.

"I don't care," Cloud said, shrugging.

"#$!"

---

It was dark, everyone was cleared out. She waited, sitting on the counter, feet not reaching the floor.

She'd see him once more. One last time.

He walked into the room. She looked to him, taking him in.

"Sephiroth..." she said.

"Tifa."

He stopped halfway to her. She slid to her feet, taking steps closer. He turned his back to her, only to feel her embrace from behind, her head on his back.

"Are you a killer?" she asked, longing.

"I'm a shadow," he said.

She tugged him closer, desperately.

"Are you going?" she asked, longing yet.

"I'm already gone," he said, pulling away.

She watched him leave, eyes growing damp.

"I'll be on AIM tonight," he told her before fading out the door.

---

His sword was over his shoulder. More soldiers were dead at his feet. It was all just a game.

His phone rang.

"Cloud," he said into it evenly.

"Cloud."

The sounds of combat echoed in the distance.

"Vincent?" Cloud asked.

"Vincent."

Silence fell. Cloud began to walk onward.

"I have to go," Vincent said.

Cloud put his phone away.

---

He walked forward, into the forest. A dragonfly glinted as it darted about... glinted?

_"Cloud..."_

He looked around. Thin trees reached for the sky, the air thinly veiled by fog.

_"Are you following me?"_

His head lowered as he stared ahead and thought.

He nodded.

_"I'm looking for it, Cloud."_

"Looking for...?"

_"Looking for Holy."_

He looked around. His whole life was looking around.

"In this place...?"

_"Dragonfly."_

---

Cid leaned against the stone bridge, his spear propped alongside him. Water ran underneath, smoke poured out of Cid's mouth.

The reflection of the sun wobbled upon the sea.

"Cid," Cloud said, approaching, leaning a few feet beside him.

"Hey," Cid said with a nod.

"Got a light?" Cloud asked.

He pulled out a cigarette.

Cid almost fell over. "The hell? Since when did your $# ass start smokin'?!"

Cloud stepped up to Cid and raised his hand. He slapped the man hard across the face, jarring him.

"You know what?" Cloud said. "Shut the fuck up, seriously."

Cid's half-burnt cigarette hit the ground.

"What the--"

"No!" Cloud snapped. "I'm fucking serious! I'm so fucking sick of you."

Cloud was angry. He stormed away.

Yuffie came walking along, taking big steps. Her arms were behind her head and she was grinning.

Cloud stared at her. She stopped, unsure.

"You are so fucking next," he said.

---

_"Mother..."_

That place again. He recognized it.

_"No..."_

Why was he here?

_"I'm sorry, if this wasn't enough... then..."_

Doom.

It was a sound effect.

Doom.

It was heard again.

Sephiroth was kneeling in prayer. It was this place again. Cloud knew it to be so.

Doom.

Cloud raised up his sword overhead. His arms were trembling. The sword was steady.

Doom.

_No..._

He swung his arms to the left, holding the sword like a bat. Arms trembling, sword steady.

_Not like this...!_

Doom.

To the right. To the left. Down...? Arms trembling, sword straight.

_My head... Oh, God... my head..._

Doom.

It was still a sound effect.

Sword up again. Ready to swing. Ready to cut in two. Ready to cut Sephiroth.

_No... No!!!_

Ringing flooded his mind. The sword clattered to the ground. Cloud fell to his knees and clutched his head in agony.

Sephiroth didn't notice. But then, he lifted his head.

Doom.

Something was in the air. So high, unseen. Death.

Aeris descended from above, dress rippling as she fell. Sephiroth could only watch. She lowered her head, her horn facing him.

DOOM.

Aeris impaled Sephiroth's helpless body upon the weapon between her eyes. Sephiroth's eyes went wide and he fell backward as she drew out her bloody prong from his form.

Tears ran down the sides of his face. He voiced words for the last time.

_"Holy..."_

Cloud came to his senses, all to late. He kneeled over Sephiroth's lifeless body, shaking.

"Cloud..."

"...Shut up."

Cloud rose and looked down upon Sephiroth's body with utter disdain, kicking it off the platform. He turned to Aeris.

"Sephiroth is dead. He'll never laugh... or cry again."

Disk Read Error.

---


	2. Spike Dies

The room was comfortable but dimly lit, an otherworldly air that vexed neither man present. Vincent stood with his arms forward, hands flat upon the table.

Bugenhagen hovered.

"You will meet a woman, Flipped Turtle. And then... _death."_

Vincent smiled grimly.

"I was killed once before... by a woman."

---

He walked up to Tifa. The bar was closed, AVALANCHE all tucked away to bed. Tifa aimlessly polished the counter.

"Tifa," he said, gesturing.

"Cloud," she said, looking up to him genuinely.

"Spike dies," he said.

Tifa's eyes showed pain. She ran out of the room, out the door.

---

Cait Sith stood atop his Mog under a street light. Cait Sith was dancing to and fro and the Mog was hopping eagerly.

Barret walked along, stopping to face the two, staring in dismay.

"You are one silly son of a bitch," Barret said, shaking his head.

He began to walk away.

"Spike dies," he said.

The Mog finished a hop and then stood still. Cait Sith slumped forward with limp arms and a crooked crown.

---

He stood in front of a townsperson. They pointed in a direction he didn't understand and nodded their head.

_Finger? What the hell?_

"A man in a black cape goes walked that way," they said.

Cloud nodded deeply. He had no fucking idea what they just said, but he walked away as if satisfied.

---

Yuffie was in a good mood. Her knees bent in, crooked, and her torso leaned down, she was petting Red XIII on the nose.

His head was lifted to receive this affection, his tail swinging slowly.

"Hee-hee," Yuffie laughed. "Would you like it if I plugged your nose?"

"Spike dies," Red XIII said simply, tilting back his head in a snooty manner.

"What the!" Yuffied yelled.

Red XIII walked away.

"HEY! Get back here!" Yuffie yelled, chasing after him.

---

The airship rattled as it tore through the sky at high speeds. Everyone was gathered in the bridge, the student pilots attempting to maintain course as Cid stood front-and-center, facing the team.

"Alright, listen up, you maggots!" he said, swinging his left arm for some reason.

Everyone was looking at him.

Cid saw that he had their attention and nodded, putting his fists on his hips.

"...Spike dies," he told them all, smiling with certainty.

Everyone groaned and hung their heads while he nodded again to himself.

---

They stood gathered around an old coffin locked away in the cellar of the Shinra Mansion where it smelled of death.

Vincent stood atop the rim of the coffin, speaking to them, albeit briefly.

"There's nothing more to discuss," the grim and mysterious man told them.

"You are interrupting my nightmares. Go away."

He floated up and descended into the coffin, the lid abruptly flying in and settling shut tightly.

Cloud shrugged awkwardly and they walked to the door.

"Wait," Vincent said.

The lid flew off and he floated forward, feet tapping onto the ground. He walked up to them. They turned to face him.

"Nevermind," Vincent said, drifting up and standing on the front edge of the coffin.

"Go away."

He returned to the coffin once more and shut himself within it.

They turned and opened the door.

"Wait."

---

The sky was painted the colors of the sun and moon as they traded places. The stars began to light up over Cosmo Canyon.

Red XIII stood with Bugenhagen atop a cliff, staring into that perfect sea above.

"I don't get it, Granpda," Red XIII said. "Did Spike die?"

Bugenhagen rocked and tilted his head back in laughter. "Ho ho hoooo!"

He stared up at the sky. "Who can say? Maybe Spike died, and maybe Spike didn't! Either way, the series ends... Everyone dies, so what does it matter?"

Red XIII tried to understand, but he was still too young.

Solemnly he howled at the moon.

---

A bunch of gritty, black-and-white images began to flash onscreen. As this is a text-based story, and the visual style is almost entirely lost, I will describe them.

Vincent in bed with Lucrecia.

Vincent looking out a window, shirtless.

Vincent, back-to-back with Hojo, smiling.

Hojo in bed with Lucrecia.

Vincent in bed with Lucrecia again or something, I don't care.

Vincent in bed with Hojo while we're at it.

Vincent just walking down the street with a bouquet of roses, looking dejected.

A bouquet of roses which logic would dictate belonged to Vincent, lying in a puddle.

---

Okay, now things are in color again.

---

The slums were a rough place, but this part was warm, sunny. He had just brought Aeris here, her 'bodyguard.'

"Thank you," Aeris said gratefully.

Cloud shifted one leg forward and raised up his forearm in front of himself...?

"No problem," he said.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked politely, hopefully.

Cloud shook his head, turning to leave.

"Cloud..." Aeris said, putting her arms behind her back, taking a step forward.

Cloud looked over his shoulder.

"On that show, Cowboy Bebop..." she said, tilting her head, her voice hinting.

Cloud took in and let out a sigh, at great length, his shoulders hanging forward.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said, shaking his head.

She closed her eyes.

"...Spike dies," Aeris said.

Cloud swung his arm as he turned and faced her.

"Bitch, I said I didn't want to talk about it!" he said, diving at her.

Aeris tried to move. Immediately, Cloud was upon her. His hands clamped around her neck and he shook and he bore his teeth at her.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he asked, letting go reluctantly. "Telling me that."

Aeris' legs wobbled, her posture shrinking as she put her hands to her neck. Cloud shoved her over by the shoulders and she lay on her side on the ground.

Cloud scuffed a cloud of dust at her with his foot then turned his back on her.

"I don't even like you," he said.

---

Yuffie cringed and clutched her stomach. She was within the airship, stomping her feet up and down.

"Oh god...!" she groaned.

Vincent came walking up.

"Huh? You're going? Just like that?!" Yuffie asked Vincent when she spotted him.

Vincent didn't answer.

"You'll die!" she pleaded, eyes beginning to water.

Vincent didn't answer. 

Yuffie pointed her shuriken at him. "I won't let you go!"

Vincent started to go.

Yuffie tried to throw the shuriken but felt queasy and missed entirely, hitting the ceiling. "Urp... Oh, dammit!"

---

"Reno," Reno said into the phone.

"Uh huh," he said.

Reno and Rude stood on the streets of Upper Midgar, Rude's arms crossed. He watched Reno nod and listen to the phone.

"Uh huh," Reno said for the second time. "...You don't say."

Reno shut the phone and put it away.

"Spike dies," he told Rude, shaking his head slowly.

Rude's face held a flat expression. He then raised his fist up in front of his face, his arm shaking wildly.

"...Oh, god damnit," Rude said, his hand suddenly stopping.

---

It was the blackest of nights, only a few emergency lights showing them the way. The air was tense, the wind rushing past them as they scaled the framework of Midgar's plates. Everything was falling apart.

Vincent raced up the stairway, metal boots clanking against metal catwalks. Cloak fluttered, gun was drawn.

"Hojo!" Vincent said in all the seriousness of the world.

He pointed his gun at the shirtless man with the long blade.

Weiss the Immaculate laughed madly, Hojo's laugh, Hojo's voice.

"Ah, if it isn't you again," Hojo said.

"...Lucrecia is dead," Vincent said in bitter pain.

"You don't say," Hojo replied.

"It's time we finished this," Vincent said in resolution.

"I agree," Hojo replied. "After all, beasts like us only know how to bare our fangs. I told you that before, remember?"

Vincent ran up the stairs while Hojo rushed down them. Vincent fired, Hojo dodged to the side. Soon Hojo was upon him and Vincent could only block the sword with his gun. Metal rang against metal, weapons shook in tiresome unison.

The two drew apart and then came at each other. A shot was fired off. Hojo's sword swept past Vincent diagonally.

Hojo collapsed, dead on the spot.

Vincent clutched a bloody wound on his chest and began limping down the stairs.

Tunk.

Tunk.

Tunk.

He was nearing the bottom. The elevator opened up. He could see Cloud and the others.

Tunk.

Tunk.

He reached the end of the stairs. But all he could do was smile and fall back, left in a puddle of his own blood. He looked up at the sky which got brighter and brighter, the higher you looked, until you could almost see heaven itself... (this took several minutes.)

---

Cloud heard a ringing sound.

After a moment of not falling to the ground in confusing agony, he realized it was his phone. He took it out and answered it.

"Cloud," he said.

"Cloud," she said back.

His eyes widened.

"Aeris!" he said.

"You're alive...?" he asked in quiet awe.

"Of course," she replied with a little laugh. "What did you think?"

"Your MySpace is gone," Cloud told her.

"I have a new one," she said lightly. "I tried to add you, but..."

"Then, were you the...?" he asked.

"Yup," she answered. "It's _Aerith_ now."

"...Aerith?" he asked.

"Yeah. ...Hey, I have to go," she said.

"Have to go?" he wondered.

"Yeah. Zack's here."

"Zack?"

"See you."

She hung up, and he put away his phone.

---

Spike scratched his hair a few times, a twinge of annoyance on his face. "Whaddaya mean, 'Aeris dies?!'" he asked.

Jet closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. "I mean what I said! _ Aeris dies!"_

Faye sighed and put her hand on her forehead. "And if she's dead, that means no bounty... I was so hungry, too..."

Ed hopped up and down, running around the group and laughing. "Ed dies too! Ed dies!! Watch Ed die, FayeFaye!"

Ein barked.


	3. Cake

It was quiet that night. He sat on a ledge and tried to think. He closed his eyes. Dark.

Nothing came, then...

Static.

_I'm a SOLDIER._

That was it.

He got up and went back to the golden light through the windows. They were waiting for him.

---

"Cloud."

Static.

"Cloud!"

He lifted his head. It was Aeris. What was she wearing...? A silky blue evening gown.

She did a twirl. Her hair swished. Her ankle rose as she came to a stop.

"So, how do I look?" she asked with a nod.

Cloud raised his shoulders, slowly outstretching his palms. He too wore a dress.

"I don't care," he said, shaking his head. "Once I get my money, I'm out of here."

---

Quiet, mystical, peaceful. A church in the slums. Light shined through the hole his ass had made in the roof.

...His ass? He held the sides of his head as it grew loud, painful.

Ringing.

"Mister!"

Static.

"Hey, mister!"

He stumbled back and blinked with fuzzy eyes at two pleasant little children.

"We've been taking care of the pretty lady's flowers!" the little girl said.

He stared at her.

"Do you know when she's coming back?" the little boy said.

Cloud nodded.

"Aeris is gone," he said. "She'll no longer talk, or laugh, or cry... or get angry again..."

---

Glittering lights and magnificent sculptures defined the recreational paradise, the Gold Saucer.

His memories were dim... he was walking toward the entrance, slowly.

A shadow of him.

Static.

Cloud shook his head.

"...I didn't go there."

---

A bold spotlight encompassed the action as he tore through a herd of feeble foes. Left, right, his sword smashed each apart in turn.

They were penguins.

"Great job!" a voice came at him in a deep echo.

He huffed in disappointment. This was too easy.

"Do you want to continue?" he was asked.

He raised his head. "Off course."

"...What was that?" the voice asked hesitantly.

He scratched his head. "No, way?"

"..."

Cloud received a consolation prize: Tissue!

He looked it over. It was a Tissue.

---

The airship was rattling. It rattled a lot. Yuffie paced and put her hands over her head, her footsteps clanging on steel.

He spotted her and walked over as she bent over, knees shaking, holding her stomach.

"Ugh... I'm gonna be sick! I can't take this!" she whined.

He stopped in front of her and leaned down, peering into her face. Motion sickness. He'd been there.

He could see it.

White.

There he was, feeling that van bounce along. The others were there. He was rocking and writhing.

Was that him...?

Static.

Her eyes were wide on him. He stared at her.

"Listen, Yuffie. I don't care about the history of Wutai, or your feelings."

---

Everyone was on the bridge of the airship, front and center. They had been through so much, but they were still standing. Their faces were serious and full of hope.

"Awright, everyone," Barret said, flailing his arms for whatever reason. "I know we been through a lotta $#! together...

He pointed at everyone with erratic gestures. No one felt threatened by the gun being pointed at their faces. "An' we gotta keep goin'! It ain't over, and there ain't no getting' offa this train we're on!"

He hammered his fist in the air a few times. "Whaddaya say?!" he asked and then crossed his arms, tapping his foot and listening with a cocked head.

Tifa looked at Cloud and at Cid, then Barret. "So are we still terrorists, or what?" she asked.

---

He walked into a small room. In the middle of the floor, he lost his balance and collapsed to his knees, then slumped over onto his side. His head was pounding. He tried to open his eyes, but all he saw was white.

"_Hey! It's me again, huh?"_

He looked around. Everything was black now.

"Who?"_  
_

"_That doesn't matter. Anyway, what do you think YOU'RE doing?"_

He thought about it.

"I wasn't really sure."

"_That's what I thought! Geez, you're hopeless."_

He put his hand on his face and sighed.

"I don't need to be lectured by you."

"_Why can't you just admit when you need help?"_

He shook his head.

"It's not that simple."

A childlike version of himself approached. It leaned forward with its arms behind its back.

"_Just be yourself!"_

"That's what I was going to do. And here you are, giving me shit for it."

The child hopped.

"_That's what I do!"_

Cloud shrugged slowly.

"Not anymore."

He reached for his sword and drew it from his back, fingers twisting around tightly.

"_You don't want to do that."_

Cloud shook in laughter. He held his hand out, turned his head to one side. It felt so familiar.

Who did it? He tried to think.

Ringing.

_Sephiroth._

"_Do you even think at all anymore?!"_

Cloud's shoulders eased back and he stared upward, searching.

"...Yeah."

_Sometimes._

Static.

His sword was above his head now.

"I don't really know what the hell you want," he said. "I'm just going to end it like this."

The child looked up, too mystified to be afraid.

"_Isn't this just like the cake?"_

He froze.

Why did those words hit so deep?

What happened to the cake?

White.

_It was my first day as a SOLDIER..._

Static.

_...No. As a nobody._

The images were gray, but there they were. Cloud in a military barracks, walking down the hall.

"Hey, new guy!" a man in uniform screamed, flailing his fist forward indicatively.

Cloud stood before him in rigid posture, saluting.

"Oh, knock that off..." the man told him. "Look, I just wanted to tell you. I baked a cake for my mother in Junon. It's her birthday tomorrow, so you'd better not touch it!"

Cloud shrugged slowly and walked off.

_I just shrugged at the guy and walked off._

Basically. Then Cloud went to the mess hall.

_I looked around. I didn't even notice it at first. It was on the counter._

Cloud walked up to the cake and studied it with a blank face.

_...It was just a stupid cake. It's not like I wanted any._

"God..." Cloud said in disdain. "It must take forever to make something like this. What a waste of time."

Static.

_But then, I don't know what happened... just that I woke up on the floor._

The door burst open. It was Sephiroth.

"My God, Cloud... what have you done?!"

He ran over. Cloud began to laugh quietly.

"This cake..."

_That cake..._

"...It had to

_It had to_

die."

_die._

_...How did I do that?_

Things returned to black. The boy still stared up at Cloud, unmoving.

_"Does that mean it's over, Cloud?"_

Cloud sat down, legs splayed, hands on his head, staring off absently.

He nodded.

"...Yeah."

The boy leaned forward and tilted his head.

_"Then..."_

Cloud lied down and closed his eyes.

_"...I'll see you next time."_

"...Yeah. Next time."

Everything slowly turned white, brighter than the sun. Then, things were normal. A loud banging sound stirred Cloud, and he lifted his head slowly off the tile floor.

"Arrrggghh!! Dammit!" Cid screamed, shaking the locked bathroom door wildly.

He grabbed the seat of his pants and ran in place, grinding his teeth.

"Every time he spends for-fuckin'-ever in there!!"


End file.
